Celtic ‘to reject’ Rangers derby ticket request as SPFL club vote looms over away allocations rule change

Scottish Premiership clubs are pondering over a new proposed rule to guarantee visiting fans a set amount of tickets amid reports Celtic are poised to turn down Rangers’ request for 800 briefs for the next Old Firm derby.

The Glasgow giants will face each against other at Parkhead on Saturday, December 30 and it appears the match will be played with no away supporters present once again after the Hoops turned down their bitter rivals offer of a similar amount of tickets at Ibrox last month when Kyogo Furuhashi’s goal secured a 1-0 win in front of a capacity crowd made up entirely of Gers fans.

Accusations made between the clubs over reduced tickets has led to Scottish football’s flagship fixture being played with only home supporters in attendance, with the Scottish champions believing that such a small allocation places travelling fans at a “safety risk”.

That theme has carried on into this campaign. According to the Scottish Daily Mail, Rangers expect to be offered an allocation for the upcoming clash, but Celtic are set to reject the request.

Hearts have also reduced away tickets for fans bar Edinburgh rivals Hibs and Motherwell and expected to follow suit. It now appears SPFL’s Rule I27 could be modified to offer clarity over how many travelling supporters can attend matches at away venues.

It states “the home club must make provision for the admission of such reasonable numbers of visiting supporters at every home league match.” Rangers officials previously offered to work alongside Police Scotland to find a solution to the ongoing row and intimated they would be willing to provide additional stewards.

As a result, top-flight clubs are being asked if they would be in favour of a rule change and if that is the case then it is expected to got to a vote on January 22. All eleven sides would need to be in favour for any new resolution to pass. UEFA currently require clubs to allot five per cent of their ground to travelling fans.